


The Bloodier the Heart, the Better the Music

by OrdinaryRealities



Series: O, Tiger's Heart Wrapped in a Woman's Hide [2]
Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: 5+1 Things, Also mention of the mess the US healthcare system is, Cooking as a form of self-care, Cooking as friendship, Jewish Yuri Plisetsky, Language Sharing, M/M, Some subtextual colonialism of the sort the US does to Mexico, Yuri Plisetsky is a Good Friend, so is leo, some discussion of depression
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-28
Updated: 2018-12-28
Packaged: 2019-09-29 07:07:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,936
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17198873
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OrdinaryRealities/pseuds/OrdinaryRealities
Summary: Five times Leo realized how lucky he was to have a friend like Yuri and one time Yuri realized how lucky he was to have a friend like Leo. (And then shitposted the hell out of Leo to show his appreciation.)





	The Bloodier the Heart, the Better the Music

**Author's Note:**

> I hope this works. I meant to have all of these be, like, actual story format stories. Unfortunately, I didn't have any overarching plots that worked well for this one, and I didn't want to give it up because who doesn't want to appreciate Yuri and Leo and their unexpected but kickass friendship that they definitely started up after the Welcome to the Madness manga? So I had a brainwave and tried 5+1 format. I'm not sure if I did it right? But at least it won't offend anyone if I got it wrong.
> 
> What may offend people, and what I hope they will let me know if I got it wrong, so that I can fix it, and get it right, is that I have written a conversation between Yuri and Leo that touches on the way that 2nd and 3rd generation immigrants often have trouble communicating with family still in the old country or even with parents over a cultural and linguistic divide. I didn't really go into too much depth, because I'm 4th (?) generation if I'm doing my math right, from Europe, and I don't really know how it goes, but I wanted to acknowledge it a little, because it's one of the more awful things that the US did to Latin American immigrants before we began killing children and putting babies in cages.

1  
“Plisetsky!” Leo lifted a hand as the Russian skater turned across the lobby towards them. 

“de la Iglesia, Ji,” Plisetsky said, and then frowned, like he wasn’t sure how social interactions went once you’d all proven you knew one another’s surnames. 

Guang-Hong had been shy too. Leo offered an easy grin. “Selfie?” Glancing across the room to where Phichit was mugging it up with Seung-gil and pretending not to pay attention, “It’ll drive Phichit crazy.”

Yuri leaned in with a laugh. There was a long moment of silence while they all tapped at their phones, posting the pictures. Plisetsky looked up and frowned. “What, has Chulanont been pestering you too?” 

It had been a lot of fun, being the one who Yuri Plisetsky, new gold medalist, called to help him find Otabek. Leo hadn’t wanted to do anything to fuck it up. 

“Why didn’t you just tell him?” Plisetsky looked suddenly young.

Leo shrugged. “Why didn’t you? I figured you’d tell him if you wanted him to know and,” a pause to direct the rest of the sentence at his friend as Phichit and Seung-gil crept closer, “It’s fun withholding information from a friend like Phichit.”

Plisetsky barked a laugh, looking touched. Guang-Hong dissolved into giggles. Even Phichit looked amused as he wailed and made a scene. The giggles trailed off and Leo cast about for something in the sudden silence of a stagnant conversation.

“So, do we wanna get some dinner?”

“Oh,” Plisetsky looked suddenly cagey. 

Leo nodded preemptively. He hadn’t realized that he’d been waiting all along for Plisetsky to tell them that he only hung out with REAL skaters. 

“I, um.” Plisetsky swallowed. “I told Otabek it would be cool if he joined? He asked what I was doing tonight, and, I figured, you two used to be rinkmates, right?” He looked down at the floor. 

Guang-Hong gave Leo a meaningful look. “We’d love to have Otabek join us too, of course.”

Leo grinned. “Yeah, of course Otabek can tag along. I stuck Guang-Hong in our text conversation the very first day.”

Yuri laughed. “I’d forgotten about that.” Leo couldn’t speak for either of the others but, for him, that was the moment he knew that this friendship would work.

 

2  
It was an excellent friendship. Yuri texted Leo at three in the morning to ask about Easter Mass for some sponsor thing and Leo, once he understood why Yuri had to ask, responded with a dozen questions about Judaism and Passover. They traded information on curse words in their respective languages (Leo didn’t understand why anyone who spoke Russian would need to know how to swear in other languages when everything Yuri explained about Russian swearing made it sound like an intricate language of its own), reports on Otabek’s DJing, off-season plans (It was thanks to Yuri that Leo and Guang-Hong were invited to Onsen on Ice number two), and updates on the Katsuki-Nikiforov wedding and Phichit. Leo often cooked while they skyped, so he had a chance to duck out of the frame and laugh when Yuri announced absurd things. 

The first time it happened they had been skyping while Leo lay flat out on the floor, bemoaning a grueling workout day. Yuri had given him no warnings before his statement. 

“You know I’m not interested in involving myself in other people’s relationships.”

Leo had fought to at least sound like he was agreeing, laughing as silently as he could and keeping his face far out of the phone camera. Leo thought there were very few third parties as involved in any couple’s relationship as Yuri was in Viktor and Yuuri’s relationship. As far as Leo could tell there was no step in the wedding preparation that Yuri hadn’t been involved in, from the flower choice to both men’s written vows. 

 

On the phone with Guang-Hong later, Leo made the other skater giggle until he could barely breathe by informing him loftily that “Yuri thinks every emotion is anger.” 

When Guang-Hong could speak again, he’d agreed. “I’d never realized before that ‘fondly angry’ was an actual emotion.”

 

3  
Leo had gotten comfortable quickly with Yuri, and it was starting to show. One morning as he was getting ready and texting, he made an off-hand comment about how hot it was when sweet-looking people said horrible things. It was only when Yuri took an unusually long time to respond that Leo considered who else might fit that bit and hastily texted that he preferred brunettes. Yuri, showing unusual tact, let the matter drop. 

Instead, a week later, he sent Leo a list. ‘I don’t know which of these he’s heard, or which ones he’d like, but Otabek sent them to me, and our taste isn’t that different. I know his birthday is coming up.’ Leo’s breath caught in his throat and it took him an extra moment to send back his thanks. 

The list was full of songs he knew Guang-Hong didn’t have, and he set it to play as he started chopping tomatillos and peppers in the kitchen on his day off, musing. His Tio Miguel had taught him to make salsa verde just like this, swaying in the kitchen to some tune tinkling out of the radio and looking lost somewhere between Abuela’s kitchen and the old country. Tio Miguel would tell stories too, when he was drunk and maudlin enough. Stories about the sunsets out in the fields and the tin rooftops in the rain and the mud washing the streets into gullies every year. Tio Miguel’s husband, Tio Jose, was the one who had bought Leo his first pair of skates, not long before he’d died of an illness that should have been treatable. His Tio Jose’s death was one thing that broke Leo’s hold on his temper.

Leo brought his mind back to the music. It also had strong feelings, but feelings that it whispered out, like the strength of them might hit too hard if they were talked about out loud. It was perfect for Guang-Hong. 

 

Leo wasn’t even sure how it came up one day, except that he’d made that slip and it had been months and Yuri still hadn’t said a word. And then Guang-Hong had teased that Leo might like Yuri better. “Can you imagine trying to have a conversation about a crush with Yuri? He’d probably bite my head off.” He couldn’t remember the last time he’d talked about a crush with Guang-Hong either. Presumably, it had been the last time that said crush wasn’t on his fellow skater.

“He’s actually surprisingly nice about it.” Leo was silent for long enough that Guang-Hong realized what he’d said. “I mean, I think he would be.”

Leo let out a huff of laughter. “Now who’s decided that Yuri’s a better friend model? Do I know this person?”

Guang-Hong yelped. “Much better than Yuri does, which is why…”

“Oh.” That meant Phichit, didn’t it. Damn it. 

“It’s not, I don’t…”

“No, that’s OK. I get it.” Leo bit his lip. “It’s not fair to expect you to tell me about your crushes when I don’t tell you mine.” He worried his lip. The sooner he knew for sure, the sooner he could get over it. “It’s Phichit, isn’t it.”

A choking noise came from the other end of the phone. “Man, if you could hear your voice. No, Leo, it’s not Phichit. It hasn’t been Phichit since my senior debut. Maybe before my senior debut.” Guang-Hong sounded somewhere between exasperated and fond. 

Leo blinked. “Who else do I know better than Yuri?” He started counting off rinkmates Guang-Hong might have met in his head. “You’re not interested in women, are you?”

Guang-Hong choked again. “Can you stop doing that every time I think it’s safe to drink? No, you idiot, it’s you, OK?” Leo blinked at his phone, sitting on the table while he chopped tomato and cilantro. “I wasn’t going to tell you, because I didn’t want to make things weird, but it’s OK, it’ll go away, I’ll get rid of it, or…”

“You will not.”

“I said I would! I’m not going to crush on you against your will, or-”

“Look, I’ve never actually talked to him about my crush on you, but he knows it’s there, OK. Guang-Hong, don’t I get some say in this? I like you too.”

“Oh.” It was a tiny puff of air against the phone, almost lost in the static. Then Guang-Hong began to giggle. “Sorry, sorry.” More giggles while Leo washed the knife and wiped it dry. “I just… Imagine poor Yuri, thinking he’d finally escaped from other people’s relationship drama now that Katsudon and Viktor are happily married,” Guang-Hong had cheerfully followed Yuri’s lead to differentiate between Yu(u)ris on the phone, though Leo couldn’t quite manage it himself and had to use initials. “Only to find himself stuck in the middle of our drama from the next continent over.”

Leo found himself giggling too, glad he’d put the knife down.

 

He called Yuri the next morning, not sure if Guang-Hong had gotten to the other man first. Time zones were a bitch. 

“Da?” and then, “Sorry, Leo? What’s up?”

“Da, Yuri.” Leo snorted. “It’s early here, what’s your excuse?”

“I didn’t look at my phone, asshole. That’s my excuse.”

“So you just answer everyone that way? I thought we had something special, Yuri.”

“Go fuck yourself.” Leo could hear the smile in the other man’s voice.

“Hey, I wanted to say thanks.”

“What? What for?” Now he sounded prickly.

Leo tried to keep the smile out of his voice. “Well, I was talking to Guang-Hong yesterday… And we realized that we’ve been making you listen to both of us mooning over each other…”

“Oh, thank god, are you two together?”

Leo laughed.

“Not that you have to thank me for shit. You’re practically low maintenance after the old man.”

“Only practically?” Leo snorted. “Even Phichit is low maintenance compared to Viktor Nikiforov.”

Yuri snorted. “I... Yeah, actually, you might be right.”

Leo shook his head, amused. “How many skaters actually whine to you about our romantic issues? On a daily basis.”

“Just Viktor, thank fuck. He’s more than enough all by himself.”

 

4  
Leo’d had some great skype conversations in his kitchen. One day Yuri opened the conversation by snapping, “You’d think they could find a room when they’re STANDING IN THE MIDDLE OF A HOTEL!” 

It took whole minutes before Leo could answer with a straight face. Every time he thought he was going to manage it, Yuri would grumble something else about figure skating’s power couple and their PDA.

 

Guang-Hong was still Leo’s favorite person to call while his hands were busy. “Are you cooking?”

“Just making some salsa.”

“Oh, that green stuff?”

“That’s the one.” Leo hoped his tone didn’t announce how pleased he was that Guang-Hong remembered it. “Would you like me to bring some to Onsen on Ice?”

“You wouldn’t mind?” Shit, Guang-Hong was cute. 

“I can always make more if I run out.” It wasn’t like he had time to make it later in the summer when the local gardens would have produce. Store-bought ingredients were available all year round. 

 

Seung-gil had called him with a shovel talk when Guang-Hong told Phichit they were dating. Leo had never talked to the other man one-on-one in his life. He was fairly sure that Guang-Hong hadn’t either. 

It had taken him a few minutes to break into the monologue Seung-gil was giving him. “Seung-gil. Hey! Yes, I know, Seung-gil. Seung-gil! Hey. I agree. Guang-Hong absolutely deserves the best, and if I don’t give it to him – no offense, you’re absolutely terrifying – but if I don’t give Guang-Hong everything he deserves and more, there’s nothing you can do to me that will be worse than what I do to myself. Or what he’ll do to me, to be honest. It’s like you people think Guang-Hong is fragile. He’s managed to become one of the top skaters in the world somehow, you know.”

 

He texted Yuri complaining about it while Yuri was in practice. He didn’t expect a response.

Twenty minutes later he got an angry phone call from Phichit about calling off Yuri Plisetsky, who was threatening Seung-gil. Leo had the best friends.

 

5  
Yuri had been the one to call the morning Leo got back from visiting his cousins though.

“Leo? What’s wrong?”

Leo wasn’t even aware that he’d done anything to let Yuri know that there was something wrong yet. “It’s nothing. How’s your quad loop coming?”

Yuri made a dismissive noise. “It will get there. Who do I have to beat up this time?”

“I- Uh… Me?”

Yuri paused. “Are you… Are you having…” A pause while he wrestled with his English. “Do you get depressed?”

“I…” Leo hadn’t been expecting that from Yuri, especially in such a gentle tone. Someday he was going to finally figure Yuri Plisetsky out. “I do, but that’s not what this is. It’s just a gray day.”

“Tch.” Yuri was clearly unconvinced. “That’s what– other people call it when they’re in a depression episode.”

Leo breathed out a little laugh, even as he wondered who Yuri knew who got depressed. “This isn’t that sort of crushing. Gray may have been the wrong color. This is just a pale blue.”

Yuri’s disgusted noise this time sounded fond. “It could help to talk about it. Unless you would rather talk to Guang-Hong or Phichit…”

“It’s really nothing.” Leo bit his lip. “I went home for my cousin’s quinceañera.” He stopped. 

“Is it your family? Mine is… Not always great either.”

Leo blinked at this admission. For the first time, he wondered where Yuri’s parents were. “No, it’s not that.” He bit his lip. “It’s so small, in the scheme of things. It’s just…” He rubbed his forehead. “Look, I’m second-generation, right? My family came to the US before I was born.” He glanced around the room for something to derail this conversation. Nothing. “So, you know, in the US we speak English. Mostly.” He began folding socks from the pile of laundry that had made it to the sofa and no farther. 

“And in Mexico they speak Spanish?” Yuri’s voice was odd.

“It’s not like I don’t speak any Spanish. Tio Miguel speaks Spanish with me, and my parents, I took it in school.”

“But your accent is a little bit strange, your vocabulary a little bit off?” Yuri sounded sad.

Leo dropped the socks he’d been frenetically folding and nodded at the phone. “Yeah.” 

“That really sucks.” It was comforting to have Yuri angry again, even if he followed it up once again with that odd vulnerability. “My grandpa’s neighbors make fun of me when I visit. They say my accent isn’t Moscow anymore, it’s all Saint Petersburg.” And fierce again, “It’s not the same as yours, I know that! It’s just… It sucks, not speaking the same way the people you love do. And at least my grandpa has never called me out on it himself.”

Leo found himself nodding at the unseeing phone again. He choked out a “Yeah,” and fought with his sudden tears.

Yuri continued to talk. “I can’t imagine… At least we all speak some sort of Russian. It’s nice that you at least can cook some of their dishes, right? We should get together at the next Onsen on Ice. I’ll teach you to make pirozhki if you’ll teach me… What was it you were making the other day? Tamales? They sounded amazing.”

Leo took a deep breath and wiped his tears on the scratchy shoulder of his shirt. “I’d like that.” 

“If you ever want a conversational partner to keep your Spanish in shape, you’d have to teach me first, but…”

Leo let out a watery laugh. “Thanks, Yuri.”

 

+1  
Assigned together to Trophee de France, Yuri and Leo went out to dinner the first night and woke up trending. Leo had to sneak past three separate sets of Yuri’s fans on his way to the rink, two holding signs shipping Yuri and Otabek, and the third campaigning hard for Yuri and Leo. An angry swarm of his own fans, indignant on Guang-Hong’s behalf, forced him to use a side entrance to the rink.

Leo received a new personal best and all the reporters wanted to know about was how he felt about being “the other man” and wasn’t Otabek his friend.

Leo’s press persona was easy going and kind, but Yuri was his friend. He gave the reporter a hard stare. “Otabek and Yuri are both my friends. As far as I know Yuri isn’t dating either one of us. And even if he wanted to date both of us, it would still be no one’s business but his and ours, and probably my boyfriend’s.”

The reporter dropped his gaze. 

“Yuri is a good friend, and I have to say that I’m pretty appalled. He should be able to get together with friends without the media and his fans throwing a shit fit about it. I’ve never had a problem with the media myself before, and I’m lucky enough to have fans who care about my happiness.” He scowled at the camera. “It would be pretty cool if Yuri’s fans did him the courtesy of wishing him the same.”

 

Leo was a meme by the next day, thanks in no small part to Phichit. 

Yuri and Otabek tweeted their favorites at him all week long. 

Leo tweeted back. “Good thing I like you, Plisetsky. Mama didn’t raise her son to be a meme.”

**Author's Note:**

> I headcanon that Leo has some depression issues because of that line where he talks about how he wouldn't be here if not for the music. I'm sorry, I know, he's all sunshine. I can't help being dark and pessimistic in all of my character interpretations.
> 
> And one quick handwaving note: 
> 
> If you're reading the series then you'll already know that I am trying to follow the homophobia-free clause of the world of Yuri on Ice, but that I'm a little uncertain how well that works even in-world in the anime. So I want to make clear that the US healthcare system, which Leo's Tio Jose was in, is awful enough that people die of stupid shit here. Although I wrote that piece right after AIDS awareness day, it doesn't have to be AIDS if you'd prefer to assume that he didn't have the money to go to the doctor for something treatable until it was too late. Sorry, Tio Jose.


End file.
